A second term full of challenges for the OLAF Director

Stability and further improvement of its efficiency in full independence are at the top of the European Anti-Fraud Office’s (OLAF) agenda after yesterday’s formal European Commission decision to reappoint its Director General.

«The next five years are full of challenges for OLAF», OLAF Director-General Franz-Hermann Brüner said after yesterday’s formal European Commission decision to appoint him for a second five-year term at the head of the European Union’s anti-fraud service (see Commission Press Release IP/06/165). On 7 February Commission, Parliament and Council had agreed on his nomination. «I would like to thank the three Institutions for their trust: As Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas pointed out last week, this gives the new Director General a strong mandate», Mr Brüner said. «The only way to show my thanks for this trust is to continue my work. Together with my experienced and motivated staff, with our operational partners in the Member States, with the new OLAF Supervisory Committee and with the support of all three Institutions I will fight for stability and further improvement of our efficiency in full independence, and that means: independence in all directions», he added.

«As I have said on several occasions, an anti-fraud organisation does not require or seek popularity. It needs to earn respect through the quality of its work, through its results, and by demonstrating integrity and an ability to make the right decisions even under pressure», Mr. Brüner stressed. And he added: «We have earned this respect during the first six years of OLAF’s existence not merely within the European Institutions but also in the Member States and beyond the EU.»

http://europa.eu.int/olaf

OLAF/06/03

Brussels, 15 February 2006

Source : http://europa.eu.int/